China Secretly Shipping Cuba Arms

China Secretly Shipping Cuba Arms

By Bill Gertz
The Washington Times
Washington D.C.
Infosearch:
José F. Sánchez
Analista
Jefe de Buró
Cuba
Dept. de Investigaciones
La Nueva Cuba
Noviembre 12, 2006

At least three arms shipments were traced from China to the Cuban port
of Mariel over the past several months. All the arms were aboard vessels
belonging to the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco), according
to U.S. intelligence officials.
Intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said
details of the arms shipments are sketchy but all involved a "known
Chinese arms dealer" who arranged the transfers.

One of the cargoes was described as dual-use explosives and detonation
cord. The explosives were said to be "military-grade" material.

The latest shipment took place in December. That arms delivery coincided
with the visit to Cuba in late December by China?s military chief of
staff, Gen. Fu Quanyou. Gen. Fu signed a military cooperation agreement
with Havana aimed at modernizing Cuba?s outdated Russian weapons.

The arms shipments to Cuba could lead to the imposition of economic
sanctions on China and Cosco, according to U.S. officials.

A 1996 amendment to the 1962 Foreign Assistance Act requires that
economic sanctions be imposed on any nation or company that provides
lethal military assistance to a nation designated as a state sponsor of
terrorism. Cuba is on the State Department?s list of nine nations
designated as supporters of global terrorism.
Sanctions would disrupt a major portion of the U.S.-Chinese shipping
market controlled by Cosco, whose business lines include port terminals
and warehousing, insurance, real estate and hotel management.

Cuba has been increasing its ties to China in recent months. In April,
Chinese President Jiang Zemin traveled to Havana and signed agreements
worth about $400 million in loans to Havana.

Other Chinese activities in Cuba include electronic eavesdropping on the
United States and Chinese government radio broadcasting, according to
U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports. China also recently
agreed to modernize Cuba?s telecommunications network.

A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the arms shipments.
Spokesmen for Cosco could not be reached for comment.

Wei Jiafu, Cosco group president and chief executive officer, told
reporters and editors of The Washington Times on June 2 that the
shipping line has no connection to the Chinese military and is only
interested in making money.

Mr. Wei insisted during the interview that the People?s Liberation Army
had no influence on the company?s operations or global business
strategy. However, the shipper?s only shareholder is the Chinese government.

Mr. Wei and other Cosco officials were in the United States to meet port
officials in Massachusetts, where they had reached an agreement with the
Massachusetts Port Authority to begin a weekly shipping service between
Shanghai and Boston beginning next year.

Cosco has been linked in the past by U.S. intelligence agencies to
illegal smuggling and international arms trafficking.

James Mulvenon, a China analyst with the RAND Corp., said that the
Chinese Communist Party?s military organ approved establishment of Cosco
as an arm of the Chinese navy in 1985.

Mr. Mulvenon stated earlier this year, in his book "Soldiers of
Fortune," that Cosco?s establishment "legitimized the use of navy ships
for civilian shipping and thus provided a legal cover for the navy?s
smuggling."

The Chinese navy was linked in 1985 to illegal smuggling in foreign
cars, vans, TVs and VCRs out of Hainan island in the South China Sea, he
wrote.

In 1998, U.S. intelligence agencies tracked a Cosco freighter from
Shanghai to Karachi, Pakistan, with a load of weapons-related goods,
including specialty metals and electronics used in the production of
Chinese-designed Baktar Shikha anti-tank missiles.

The shipment was carried aboard a vessel owned by the company subsidiary
Cosco Tianjin.

The arms transfers by Cosco ships contradict statements to Congress made
in 1997 by National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger, who told senators
there was no credible evidence linking Cosco to illegal activity,
including arms smuggling.
Edward Timperlake, a former House committee investigator, said a Cosco
executive was among a group of Chinese officials who were granted access
to the White House and to Mr. Clinton?s weekly radio address in 1995 --
days after Democratic Party fund-raiser Johnny Chung made a large
payment to the White House for the president?s re-election campaign.

The visit was checked by White House National Security Council aide
Robert Suettinger, who wrote in a memorandum that giving White House
photographs to the group of Chinese officials and Chung, who in 1998
pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions, would not cause
"any lasting damage to U.S. foreign policy."
Mr. Suettinger, who described Chung as a "hustler," also stated in a
White House memo: "And to the degree it motivates him to continue
contributing to the [Democratic National Committee], who am I to
complain," Mr. Suettinger said. "Cosco is the merchant marine arm of the
PLA Navy," Mr. Timperlake said. "If the Chinese military ever mobilized
troops for action against Taiwan, Cosco would be part of the operation."
Cosco ships would provide arms and logistics support for Chinese
military operations, U.S. officials said.

Al Santoli, a national security aide to Rep. Dana Rorhabacher, said
Cosco is well-known for worldwide support of Chinese weapons sales.

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